Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

AnAmericanadventure

W

ithoutthefundingtoraceregularly

in theUK,whena chancecameup

toracein America,Geoffjumpedatit.

“Mydadwasbuyingsomeaeroplanes

in Californiaandtheguyhewasdealing

with,DavidPsachie,happenedto have

a FormulaSuperVee(similarto F3).He

askedmeto comeoveranddriveit, so

at theendof ’78I didmyrstraceforhim

at Mosport.

“I wentoutandwassouncompetitive

it’sjustnotfunny.I’dwonF3racesand

hereI wasrunningat thebackof theeld,

andI putit in thewallfromoverdriving.

I thoughtthatwasmyAmericanracing

careerover.

“Thentheyrealisedtheenginetiming

waswrong,sotheyxedit forthenext

raceandI wasonpole!ThenI wentto

Trentonforthelastraceof theyearand

I endedupwinningit, whichwasmyrst

ovalracewin.”

Theydecidedto continueandGeoffduly

wonthe 1979 SCCAFormulaSuperVee

Championship,andthatbroughthimto the

attentionof Can-AmteamownerCarlHogan.

WithregulardriverAlHolbertleavingto buildhis

owncars,HoganrecruitedBrabhamforthenal

twoCan-Amracesof theseasonin California.

Brabhamnishedfourthin onerace,but

moreimportantlyhepassedVDSteamdriver

GeoffLeesin onerace,whichimpressedVDS

teammanagerSteveHorne.“WhenLeesleft

unexpectedlyat theendof theyear,I joined

VDSfor1980.Butthatwastherstyearof the

Lolagroundeffectcarwithslidingskirtsandthe

thingwasjusta pieceof junk,theworstcarI’ve

everdriven.”

TheLolatwistedsobadly,Brabhamsays,

thatthesteeringrackwouldjamgoingthrough

thenotoriousLagunaSeca‘corkscrew’.

Fortunately,VDShadtwoverygoodengineers

• TrevorHarris,whowouldlaterdesignNissan’s

IMSAtitlewinners,andTonyCicale– and

theydevelopedtheT530wellenoughthat

Brabhamwona raceandnishedthirdin the

championship.

GeoffbeatTeoFabito thechampionship

thefollowingseasonin a heavilyrebodiedand

re-engineeredcar.It wasa bigstepupforhis

career,notonlyfortherecognition,butbecause

hereceiveda retainerforthersttimeandtook

a handysliceof theprizemoney!

In themeantime,DavidPsachiehadformed

anIndycarteamwithwealthyMexicanJosele

Garza.PsachietalkedGarzaintorunninga

secondcarin threeracesin 1981,including

theIndy500,andGeoffranstronglyto nish

anincrediblefthonhisIndianapolisdebut–

runningwith‘Mexico’plastereddowntheside

of hisPenske-Cosworth!

Thatimpressedhisdad’soldteammateDan

Gurney,whoputGeoffintotheradical

stock-blockChevroletV8-engined

Eagle‘PepsiChallenger’fortheIndycar

roadraceat Riverside.Bothdriverand

normally-aspiratedcarwerewellsuited

aliforniancircuitandGeoffputit onthe

pole– byalmosttwoseconds!

“Thecarwasobviouslyprettygood,butafter

qualifyingI wentto thepressconference,which

in thosedayswasn’tverylong,andcameback

to thepitsto ndthewholecrewhadgone

to thepub!I thought,thisis nota goodsign.

Anyway,aftera coupleof lapsI waschanging

gearat 6000(insteadof 8000)andI wasstill

pullingaway.ButwhenI camein fortherstpit

stoptheycross-threadeda wheelnut.I lost 20

lapsorsomething...Thatshouldhavebeenan

easywin.”

Twomonthslaterin thehighaltitudeof

MexicoCity,wheretheturbosnowenjoyedthe

advantage,Geoffstillputthecaronthefront

rowandintentionallyjumpedthestartto get

ahead,butwaseasilypickedoffonthestraights

andnishedninth.Thenthecarwasoutlawed

anda distraughtGurneywalkedawayfrom